He preaches abstinence from sex unless it is to have children

Tolstoy is tormented by the strength of his sexual desire throughout his life. The older he gets, the more critical he is of the institution of marriage. “It would be a hundred times easier to struggle against physical desire if carnal relations and the feelings that lead to them were not made to look poetical; if marriage were not presented as an admirable institution that makes people happy, whereas in at least 9,999 out of 10,000, if not in all, it ruins their entire lives; if, from childhood to adulthood, people were persuaded that the sexual act (merely imaging a loved person in that posture is enough!) is an ignoble and bestial one that is meaningless unless it is uppermost in the minds of both partners that they are going to assume the heavy and complex responsibility of bearing a child and raising it to the best of their ability as a result of their intercourse” (p652, Tolstoy, Troyat).